Water poverty index assessment in semi-arid regions: The case of san luis potosí valley (Mexico)

The water poverty index allows water poverty assessment taking into account both physical and socioeconomic factors related to water availability. The methodology was proposed by Lawrence et al., in 2002. The water poverty index is the weighted sum of five key components: resources, access, use, capacity and environmental assessment on a scale of 0 to 100. However, in applying the index to the Valley of San Luis Potosí to the year 2005, we took into account the quality of water as an additional component to the original methodology. In the Valley of San Luis Potosí dry climate, with an average annual rainfall of 351 mm, an average annual temperature of 17.5 °C and a mean annual potential evaporation of 2038.7 mm. The study area has a 92 % dependence on groundwater and 8% on surface water for different uses; the area also concentrates 40 % of the state's population and generates 80 % of state GDP. This explains the economic importance of the aquifer in this region. The water poverty index obtained for Valle de San Luis Potosí was 46 points. The aim of this paper is to estimate the poverty rate of water in a semiarid region as the Valley of San Luis Potosi and link household welfare with water availability.